Monday, August 19, 2013

Steve and I were walking through the Fly Fishing Dealer Show
in Denver a few years ago and as we passed one of the booths the guy behind the
counter said “Hey, have you ever seen anyone do this with sun screen?” and he
proceeded to smear it in his eye.
If you’ve ever had regular sunscreen trickle into you eye you know how
badly the stuff can sting. Our
intrepid salesman merely wiped his eye with a tissue and smiled “See? Doesn’t
sting!” he declared. He got his
desired result. We stopped and had
closer look at his product, Sol Sunguard.
My first question was “ Yeah, but does the sunscreen work?” As an answer he gave us some samples to
try. Since then it is the only
sunscreen that I use.

My foot after a very hot day on the water. No burn!

When I was a kid I spent
many a painful night with sunburn and was very aware, after a few bad burns,
about the negative effects of UVB and UVA rays. I have never used a product as
effective a Sol Sunguard. The
product features microfine zinc oxide that offers transparent and complete
protection, I just spent a very hot day yesterday in my boat in shorts and flip-flops
with no effects in terms of sun burn.
The skin on my feet and the backs of my hands are particularly
susceptible to the sun’s rays but with Sol it’s not a problem. To make it even better, it isn't greasy, won't effect your fly line, has no odor and is non water soluble. Make sure you take care of your skin with
appropriate clothing and the best sunscreen on the market.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Come see and cast the new Hardy and Grey's Fly Rods including the Jet, GR50, GR30, & GR10 as well as the new Hardy Bougle reel. Cast the hot Sintrix Zenith and Proaxis fly rods with nano technology.

In addition, Robert Bolt will be in our shop that weekend. Robert makes one of the finest bamboo rods on the market today. If you like Gary Howells' rods, you will love a R.K. Bolt fly rod. Robert bought all the remainingHowells' stock and has also developed his own interpretation of a Howells.

We will have some in store specials that day as well including: We Pay Your Sales Tax on all Hardy/Grey's products over $100.

There will be a real treat as well with fly tying demonstrations with a great tier, our own fly tying instructor, Glenn Hiroyasu. Plus, Captain Vaughn Podmore (Saltyfly Guide Service) will be here tying flies and talking about local offshore fly-fishing. Vaughn has more than 20 years experience fly- fishing and fine-tuning our local waters. From novices to experts, he will use his local knowledge and skill to give anglers a memorable experience.

Sunday, September 29 9:00AM-4:00 PM

People will be coming from all over California to show off, trade or sell Bamboo Fly Rods as well as collectable fly- fishing equipment and ephemera. This year we have invited cane rod builders and cane rod collectors. This should be a major showing of what is available in California cane. And if you have the old fly-fishing stuff for sale, bring your own table and chairs and join us.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Want to take your flyfishing skills to the next level? Then you need to attend “The Fly Zone” surf series with Al Quattrocchi and Jim Solomon. These two seasoned anglers will walk you through all the techniques and secrets to becoming more proficient in the California surf. “The Fly Zone” will be a two day boot camp clinic - The first day will be in the classroom refining your tackle, learning about productive fly patterns, how to read the water for structure and current and then to the neighboring park to improve your shooting head casting skills for distance, safety and accuracy. The second day will be an early morning rendezvous to the beach to apply what you learned in the classroom. Their objective - To teach you how to catch more fish, efficiently and with less aggravation. Don’t miss this opportunity - let Al and Jim put you In “The Fly Zone”.

Al Quattrocchi has spent most of his life fishing the surf with spinning and fly gear. He started the One Surf Fly about 6 years ago to engage many newcomers to the joys of fly fishing the surf and to promote and support our local fishery and fly shops. Al also teamed up with mako master, Conway Bowman to co-host the Carp Throwdown in San Diego each June. Al prides himself as a profession fly tier for Umpqua. He lectures and teaches at local fly clubs and shops on local species and loves to shoot photos, video and write an article or two for some of our popular saltwater fly fishing magazines. Al’s favorite California surf fish is the corbina!

Jim Solomon is a FFF MCI casting instructor, OSF team member and a long time member of the Wilderness Flyfishng club. Jim and Al along with many of their fishing buddies pull together the Double Haul Ball each year in Long Beach. When Jim is not fishing in Montana or the Sierras he spends many days on our local beaches. Jim has caught many exotic species in our local surf, including spot fin croaker, striped bass, sargo, corbina and white sea bass. If you asked Jim he would probably consider himself a corbina junkie!

Friday, August 2, 2013

I have fly fished for 40 plus years and during that time I
have wrestled with several different ways to carry all the “stuff” that is, in
my humble opinion, necessary for a quality day on the water. When I first started I used a simple
fly box stuffed into my shirt pocket and a couple of spools of tippet material
and I went out and had fun. As I
progressed in the hobby I accumulated more “stuff” and eventually bought an
inexpensive cotton vest that was soon bulging with fly boxes, floatant, rain
shell, leaders, tippet and an assortment of other things that I was certain I
couldn’t live without. By the mid
80s I was getting back and neck strain from the accumulated weight that I was
carrying around. I decided I needed to try something else and got a really nice
chest pack from JW Outfitters, whittled down my payload and still seemed to
catch just as many fish with half the stuff. Six years ago I retired the chest
pack and got a new Simms vest that certainly was a pleasure to wear compared to
my old cotton piece. About that same time, however I found myself fishing more
and more locally and for many other species besides trout. This necessitated major planning before
each outing. Taking out boxes of
surf flies and replacing them with boxes of carp, bass or trout flies and the
corresponding leaders and tippets was a chore that inevitably resulted in boxes
that had that “killer fly” being left at home.

Eventually the
whole mess evolved into different gear storage for different species.

For trout, I still prefer my Simms Guide vest. It has a ton of storage, I still can’t
leave much behind, and because of the way the vest is designed the weight is
distributed well and I can carry a ton of gear in comfort.

Simms vest is well designed and comfortable.

For boat fishing I use an Umpqua Famous 2500 Boat Bag, which
will hold 5 or 6 big fly boxes, rain shell, pliers, sunscreen, granola bars, camera,
Boga Grip, extra Buff and a whole pile of other stuff too. It has a hard bottom
that will withstand the abuse that is unique to fishing from a boat. The top is an excellent worktable that
is connected by a waterproof zipper that keeps everything inside dry. Best damn boat bag I’ve ever owned. Umpqua video shows some of the great features of this piece.

Carp and surf fishing have a lot of similarities other than
the flies (there are some flies that will work for both) and you need to be
very mobile and unencumbered. I
finally decided on an Orvis Safe
Passage Sling Pack. It is very
well designed, everything is accessible quickly and easily, and it swivels out
of the way for easy casting.

The Orvis sling in use at Annini Beach, Kauai

I realize that every angler
has different and very specific needs but, by refining how you carry your gear,
you can get out on the water without forgetting the important things if you
have it all organized and ready to go. Just think outside the vest!